Android Kitkat resources bug "android.content.res.Resources$NotFoundException"

Question

I am working on android app and it is working good on all android versions >= lolipop and gives fatal error on kitkat and below. This is the error:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.tequeen.mallakydriver/com.tequeen.mallakydriver.SplashActivity}: android.content.res.Resources$NotFoundException: Resource ID #0x7f02004b

and it points to this line setContentView(R.layout.activity_splash); but the activity_splash.xml is already there and I am sure on that.

any advice, thanks.

Edit: the build.gradle content

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.1"`

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.tequeen.mallakydriver"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 23
        versionCode 2
        versionName "1.1"
        // Enabling multidex support.
        multiDexEnabled true
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
    dexOptions {
        javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }
}

Manifest content:

<application
        android:name=".AppController"
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">

        <!-- Splash Activity -->
        <activity
            android:name=".SplashActivity"
            android:theme="@style/SplashTheme">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>

Custom theme:

<style name="SplashTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.NoActionBar">
        <item name="android:windowBackground">@drawable/background_splash</item>
        <item name="android:windowAnimationStyle">@null</item>
    </style>